Caesars Entertainment breaks ground on new conference center in Las Vegas

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Caesars Entertainment Corporation, the world's most diversified gaming and entertainment company, broke ground today on their newest development – CAESARS FORUM, a $375 million, 550,000 square-foot conference center in Las Vegas. Caesars Entertainment is an undisputed leader in the meetings industry having hosted more than 1.9 million meeting participants, 1.6 million room nights with 17,300 meetings and events in 2017 alone.

Redefining the offerings for meetings and events in Las Vegas, CAESARS FORUM will be the first facility of this size built on one level and will feature the two largest pillarless ballrooms in the world, equivalent to 27 tennis courts or three ice hockey rinks. It will also feature FORUM Plaza, the first 100,000 square foot outdoor meeting and event space in Las Vegas. Designed as a multi-functional space, FORUM Plaza allows planners to host receptions, meetings and live entertainment with the Las Vegas Strip as the backdrop. The conference center is also within walking distance to more than 20,000 Caesars Entertainment hotel rooms and is adjacent to the LINQ Promenade retail district.

"Caesars Entertainment has eight properties located in the center of the Las Vegas strip – more than any other competitor," said Mark Frissora, President and Chief Executive Officer for Caesars Entertainment. "With our geographic advantage, and the demand for meetings space exceeding available inventory, this project builds on our strategy to provide a value-add to meeting planners, guests and investors."

Monday's groundbreaking ceremony took place on the future site of the conference center, located directly behind The LINQ Promenade. For the first time, Caesars Entertainment shared a 360 fly-through experience of the conference center. President and CEO, Mark Frissora was joined on stage by Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani and other Caesars Entertainment executives for the official groundbreaking.

CAESARS FORUM secured its first booking with the American School Counselor Association in July 2021, which will include 3,500 attendees from all over the U.S. Since then, Caesars Entertainment has gone on to contract over $70 million in conference business for CAESARS FORUM.

The conference center will create 1,000 local construction jobs and more than 450 permanent jobs upon opening in 2020. It will also be globally recognized for its sustainability with a LEED Silver rating. Opening in 2020, CAESARS FORUM will:

• Provide direct access via skybridge to Harrah's Las Vegas Casino & Hotel and The Linq Hotel & Casino;
• Be connected by pedestrian bridge to LINQ Promenade and Flamingo Las Vegas;
• Feature 300,000 square-feet of flexible meeting space, including two 110,000 square-foot pillarless ballrooms, two 40,000 square-foot ballrooms and six state-of-the-art boardrooms;
• Accommodate more than 10,000 participants and offer more than 100 break-out rooms;
• Be built on one floor for convenient move-in, along with nine easily accessible loading docks;
• Feature FORUM Plaza, a 100,000 square-foot outdoor space, ideal for outdoor events, wellness breaks, opening cocktail receptions, meals or entertainment;
• Be conveniently located within walking distance to eight of Caesars Entertainment's Las Vegas properties.
• Divide into limitless configurations for customers, utilizing more than two miles of airwalls.

This announcement is the latest example of Caesars Entertainment's investment in developing new assets for the meetings industry. This spring, the company announced plans to bring the Caesars brand to two hotels in Dubai's Jumeirah Beach region and to the Puerto Los Cabos region in Mexico – offering conference space in key gateway cities. Last month, the company also broke ground on a new conference center at Harrah's Cherokee in Cherokee, North Carolina. The $200 million conference center and hotel tower will feature a sprawling 83,000 square foot conference space, 725 hotel rooms, along with dining and retail outlets. In 2015, Caesars Entertainment opened Harrah's Waterfront Conference Center, the largest hotel conference complex from Baltimore to Boston.

Caesars Entertainment offers 40 first-class properties nationwide that have 2.1 million square-feet of meeting and event space. In 2017, more than 17,000 meetings and events are hosted annually at Caesars Entertainment, with more than 1.9 million participants nationwide.